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Greetings!
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My bride and I celebrated our thirty-first wedding anniversary last week. We were joined in celebration by our daughter who completed her last final exam for the spring semester. She has finished a full year of law school. It was also our first opportunity to enjoy Mother's Day, but not our last.
We marveled at how fast thirty-one years goes by and how quickly a year of law school passes. We also ate the dessert our daughter ordered. If you ever dine at P. F. Chang's and really, really want a lot of cake, order the Great Wall of Chocolate. Wow! We required three forks and a diet plan to even come close to finishing that.
This past weekend we celebrated Mother's Day with my mother. Her birthday was Monday and we added that to the party planning list.
When I was four or five years old, Mom read The Jungle Book to me at bedtime. I quite naturally developed a love for books and stories. Our plan is to take Mom and Dad to see the new movie version of The Jungle Book this Saturday.
Celebrations are the mile markers of our lives. I love it when the border control agents welcome me home as I pass through security at the Vancouver airport. I love it when I drive back into Texas from any direction. It is always good to get home. The greatest celebration ever awaits us. Jesus said the Kingdom of God is a party.
We practice for heaven when we celebrate our loved ones and their accomplishments.
I listened to our good friend Gerry Lewis's podcast on the way to work this morning. The episode I listened to is a few weeks old but is worth finding (http://drgerrylewis.com/063/). He talked about creating a culture of gratitude. He gives several tips that, when practiced, can change your life, your family, and your workplace.
Celebrations are opportunities to express our gratitude for those who mean so much to us. Like Gerry says, it should become part of our personal and church cultures.
My mother is great at buying cards for special events. She keeps Hallmark in business. I prefer writing personal notes. Some people are really good with well-timed compliments. Prov. 25:11 says, "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
Choose a gratitude practice to include in your daily routine and make it a habit. Every day will then contain multiple celebrations. Insert a bit of heaven into your surroundings.
By the way, you look nice today! Have you lost weight?
With gratitude, David
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Pastor's Conference and Executive Board Meetings
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Pastors' Conference and Executive Board Schedule
Pastors, retired pastors, staff members and lay leaders are invited to participate. We hope to see you there!
Location: 
Cornerstone Assistance Network
3500 Noble Avenue
Fort Worth, TX 76111
Cost:
$7.00 for lunch
May 23 - Pastors' Conference (Bobby Bridges; Cornerstone)
May 30 - No Pastors' Conference (Memorial Day)
June - No PC or EB Meetings (Summer Vacation)
July - No PC (Summer Vacation)
July 18- Executive Board (TBA Office)
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Upcoming Training and Retreats offered by TBA
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Upcoming Training and Retreats
May 24-26 - Society for Church Consulting Training
24th & 25th: 9:00am-5:00pm
26th: 9:00am-12:00pm
Catalyst Room - TBA Office
August 8-12 - Professional Coach Training
9:00am-5:00pm, Daily
Catalyst Room - TBA Office
August 29-30 - Hearing God Retreat
Monday 1:00pm - Tuesday at Noon
Riverbend Retreat Center
October 4-6 - Society for Church Consulting Training
24th & 25th: 9:00am-5:00pm
26th: 9:00am-12:00pm
Catalyst Room - TBA Office
October 23-25 - re:FOCUS Retreat
Sunday 6:00pm - Tuesday at Noon
Riverbend Retreat Center
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Society for Church Consulting Training
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May 24 - 26, 2016
9-5 Tuesday & Wednesday, 9-Noon Thursday
Catalyst Room - TBA Office
Instructor: David Bowman
Generalist Track - Levels 1-4
Cost: $500
(discounted rate of $325 for students)
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Vancouver Vision Tour
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2016 Vancouver Vision Tour
September 12-15, 2016
If your church is affiliated with the BGCT, or even dually aligned, arrangements will be made to pay your
hotel and local travel expenses. All you need to pay is the cost of travel and a few meals.
If you or any of your leadership team are interested, please contact David Bowman.
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Social Media Update
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Tarrant Baptist Association now has an Instagram account!
Please follow us on Instagram to stay connected -- @tarrantbaptist
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App of the Month
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"Hi, my name is Dave, and I have a problem."
"Hi, Dave!"
I have a tendency, occasionally, well, sometimes, no, most of the time, to keep too many browser tabs open at the same time. There, I said it. It's true. All of it. My daughter chastised me recently for the more than twenty websites, documents, and apps I kept open just in case I needed to go back to one of them.
I realize this may seem excessive, but let me explain. Computing has changed over the last few years. Many of the products and services we use are cloud-based apps (Google apps) rather than traditional programs (Microsoft Office). Rather than turning on a computer, going to a program on the hard drive, and then locating a file, most of us now open our favorite web browser (Google Chrome for me), and log into our workflow apps.
My basic workflow apps that I keep open as pin tabs (Look it up. It will bless your soul.) are, from left to right, Feedly, GMail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Google Keep. Those are the apps I use most throughout the day every day.
Right now I also have open Basecamp, Google Groups (TBA Writing Circle), this current document, OneTab, Nuzzel (More about this tool next month), CBS Fantasy League Baseball (Everyone needs a hobby!), movie times for Saturday, and a website related to the book The ONE Thing, which I reviewed last month. That is thirteen tabs. I will close a couple of those soon.
OneTab provides a browser extension for the Google Chrome and Firefox browsers. Clicking on this extension collapses all open tabs, except pin tabs, into one tab. It saves the hypertext links to those tabs on one page. By closing all open tabs, it saves computer memory and makes the computer work faster. You don't lose your place or the resources you needed on the pages you previously opened. You can go back to them at any time. You can also share a set of tabs with a coworker.
I clicked the OneTab extension just now and collapsed my thirteen open tabs down to my essential workflow pin tabs plus OneTab.
I posted a note about OneTab on social media recently and immediately had a friend who also admitted to keeping too many tabs open. You may be one of us. Now you can join us in making your life a bit less cluttered with OneTab.
Follow this link for more details.
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Questions to Ponder
|  Questions and Thoughts to Ponder...
Our staff just finished a day of training with Dr. Bob Roberts and Pastor Omar Reyes from NorthWood Church. Here are several questions and thoughts they shared that I'm pondering.
- How are you living your faith in the public square?
- Church is defined by the disciples you are making.
- Don't ask, "How is my church?" Ask, "How is my city?"
- How are your members spiritually impacting others in their Monday through Saturday lives?
What are your thoughts from these?
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Book Review
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 "Can rebellion be holy? Certainly, as long as we rebel against things that God abhors. It's time to rebel against the desire to make ourselves great in pastoral ministry."
These words come from the introduction to Holy Rebellion: Redefining Excellence in Pastoral Ministry by Dr. Kevin Moore, pastor of Lamar Baptist Church in Arlington. Dr. Moore has written a fitting primer for ministerial students. It serves to shape a student's mindset regarding the nature and practice of pastoral ministry.
Dr. Moore illustrates several inadequate models for ministry. He demonstrates the leadership failures of CEO pastors, fashionable pastors, rocking chair pastors, and visiting scholar pastors. In contrast, he presents the model of a pastor whose motivation is love.
The seven chapters communicate the nature and application of this love.
Chapter 1 -- Love Your Church Beyond Barriers
Chapter 2 -- Love Your Church with God's Word
Chapter 3 -- Love Your Church in Prayer
Chapter 4 -- Love Your Church through Visitation
Chapter 5 -- Love Your Church During Change
Chapter 6 -- Love Your Church within Conflict
Chapter 7 -- Love Your Church Amid Stress
This brief volume makes a nice gift to a graduating high school or college student who is preparing for a ministry career. Young pastors in their first churches will also benefit from it. It will encourage your heart as well.
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Ideas Column
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I was preparing for a drive to and from Houston recently and gathered listening materials for the journey. I purchased Lead Like Jesus from Audible. It has been several years since I read this and wanted a refresher course.
What I downloaded was not a book. Instead, it was Ken Blanchard, Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, Laurie Beth Jones, and Phyllis Hendry speaking about the different ideas from the book. I wish I had the authority to make you listen to this. I laughed, I cried, I learned so much. I needed the wisdom of the speakers and those who were interviewed. You will enjoy and profit from the time you spend with it. You can purchase it from Audible or from Amazon.com. You can follow this link to TBA's Amazon page where a portion of the price will return to TBA's account.
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| Fraud in the Church | |
How is that for a shocker title to this article? Unfortunately, fraud does happen even in the church and in churches of all sizes. It is a topic that few in church leadership would prefer to talk about, but one that many more need to be considering as a potential occurrence.
As part of the annual audit of Tarrant Baptist Association performed by PSK Accounting, the organization is required to respond to 80 questions that deal with areas such as budgets, cash handling, receiving of funds, purchasing processes, asset reconciliation procedures, and payroll. These are some of the key areas where potential wrongdoing can take place.
The median loss due to fraud, which broadly can be considered any form of misuse or misappropriation of assets, is $100,000 in not for profit entities in the United States. This is the category where churches fall. There are multiple ways that this can be done such as fictitious billings, reimbursement of unauthorized, false or duplicate expenses, check tampering, skimming of cash receipts, manipulations of payrolls or benefiting from non-cash assets through theft or unauthorized use.
The most significant reason that cases of fraud exist is due to a lack of internal controls, sometimes called a system of checks and balances. This is where there is not a separation of job functions so that no one individual is in charge of a process from beginning to end without the intervention of at least one other responsible person. A secondary reason is simply not adhering to controls that are in place, either by action of the person performing the function or with authorization, and sometimes undue pressure, from their superiors.
There are different areas of the church context where fraud can occur. By far, the accounting/administrative department is the most likely office in which wrongdoing is born. This is why it is so crucial that checks and balances are in place to reduce the possibility of inappropriate actions taking place.
The predominant "red flag" displayed by perpetrators is when they are living beyond their means. When their lifestyle appears to be unreasonably beyond what their income should justify, there may well be reason for heightened concern on behalf of church leadership. Another frequent indicator is when the perpetrator has evident financial difficulties, often talking about them to others as a tremendous source of worry and frustration.
The overwhelming percent of cases of fraud come to light through tips provided by others. This will most often be a fellow staff worker or church member friend, but can sometimes even be a member of the perpetrator's extended family who is concerned about changes that have been noticed in the individual.
The absolute number one rationalization of those who commit these crimes is that they were going to pay it back. However, they often find that it gets easier to continue once the device of fraud is in place coupled with the fact that they have gotten so deeply entrenched in the circumstance that they do not see a way out.
Basically good people, when given the opportune environment and a problematic personal circumstance, can be drawn into committing fraud where a context of accountability is not in place. This seems counter-intuitive when one is working with the Lord's resources, but it happens all too frequently. Let us as church leaders be kind-hearted towards those with whom we work, whether they be paid staff or volunteers, while at the same time being astutely wise in overseeing those resources that God allows us to steward.
If you would like to receive a copy of the Fraud Risk Assessment Procedure of TBA, write Gary Crowell at gary@tarrantbaptist.org or call 817-927-1911, ext. 213 to request that this be sent to you. Of course, I would be glad to answer any questions you might have or meet with church leadership to address any concerns you might have.
Gary L. Crowell, CPA, CCA
Chief Financial Officer
Tarrant Baptist Association
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Your Part in New Church Planting
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Your Part in New Church Planting
Last week I had the honor of visiting with and addressing a number of church planters in Phoenix. This large, central-Arizona metropolitan area is a major spiritual hub with strong influences in old Roman Catholicism, native American tribal beliefs and new age delvings. The new church planters were, for the most par,t from other areas of the South. Several had been at this for as many as three years and were quite successful in reaching a great number of their target population. Others were early in the process and were still securing funding relations as well as building connections with individuals, organizations and churches.
The Phoenix Metroplex is, in some ways, much like our own DFW Metroplex. There are millions of lost and unchurched people representing cultures from all over the world. They need Christ's love, forgiveness and salvation as well as a church family who will love and disciple them. The biggest difference between our two areas is the number of resources. We, here in DFW, have a multitude of churches, leaders and funds who have a heart for God's Kingdom purposes. We have a wealth of resources.
The scripture notes that to whom much is given, much is required. We certainly have been given much. Therefore, we shouldn't be surprised when God expects us to proactively invest in church plants outside our own church. This has been the suggestion this year: Consider, as a starting point, supporting a new church start here locally, one within the state of Texas, one somewhere else in the U.S. and one in another country. I can assure you that your view of God's world will be greatly enhanced when you do so. We at TBA can help you see the vision and connect for Kingdom impact.
Let's talk and pray! -Jay Harris |
| Pray for VBS! |  Last month, our association held a very fun and successful day of training at Wedgwood Baptist Church for VBS teachers and volunteers. We had a great group of men and women who were eager to learn the new material for this summer, and we all enjoyed all of the Submerged decorations and themes throughout the training event.
Just as our trainers worked hard to make this day a special and helpful experience, we know that all of you have been and will be working hard to make your individual church's VBS a huge success! But, how will such a success be measured? By how many children come through your doors? Or maybe by how many hot dogs or bags of popcorn you pass out throughout the week? Of course, those numbers are important. You have to plan well, and you want to see results for all of your hard work.
Instead, however, join me in measuring our success with VBS this summer by the way in which we see the Holy Spirit work in our teachers, our students, our parents and families, and throughout the community. Let's not just get kids in the building but let's make sure that we are radiating the gospel through every single activity throughout the week. May we find ourselves exhausted at the end of VBS because we have obediently followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and poured Christ's love into every single body in attendance.
Please join me in praying that all of our VBS events throughout the association will be successful in making the gospel known and that all of our hard working teachers and volunteers would be abundantly blessed!
-Becky Biser Director of Leadership |
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Take a Look at Our New Job Board
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Our TBA website has just had a new update to our Job Board, and we would like for everyone to head over and check it out. The new version of Job Board will be much more user-friendly than the previous version. We hope that it serves as a helpful tool in connecting our local job applicants to churches all over the area. |
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Lawyers, Guns & Money Conference
|  May 24, 2016 9:30am - 4:00pm
Compass Center 4201 Pool Rd. - Grapevine, TX 76051
Join us at the 3rd Annual Legal, Accounting, and Church Security Conference. This free conference is presented by The Church Law Group of PSK, LLC and offers a new format with updated content. CPE and CEU credits are available, and a boxed lunch is included. For more information and to register, click here. |
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Disaster Relief Report
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The Tarrant Baptist Disaster Relief team wants to thank you again for your support in making this year's Beach Reach effort a great success! There were 1,060 volunteers this year who were able to give rides to about 26,000 spring breakers and feed pancakes to approximately 21,000 people. Thousands of lives were changed, and your support was a huge piece of making that happen.
Up Next... The team is now headed down to join forces with Copperfield Church in Houston and feed the mud out crews! Please be in prayer that this ministry will yield a fruitful harvest of influence. |
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re:FOCUS Journey for Pastors and Staff
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Invest in your staff
Want to experience a life change journey designed just for pastors, staff and leaders? This is not like any other discipleship conference you have experienced. This is a time you can refresh yourself in a hands-on experiential-type of journey. Here are some of the things you will experience:
- A safe environment
- Time for reflection
- Time to spend reading the Bible and reflecting on your relationship with Christ
- Authentic facilitators who let you discover your own way
- Prayers offered over you
- Laughter and fun
- A few stretching and challenging activities
- Time to hear God speaking just to you
- A renewed excitement and expectation about what God is doing in your life
The next re:FOCUS journey will start Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. on October 23rd and end at noon on Tuesday, October 25th at the Riverbend Retreat Center. The cost is $125. Each retreat time is unique and will focus on different aspects to help empower leaders.
Retreat #1
- Leaders will spend time re:Connecting with God and with peers in an experiential learning environment. This time will include alone time with God enhancing their dependence on the Father and time to make friends with peers that are both authentic and safe.
Retreat # 2
- Six months later leaders will come back together to re:Discover who God has made them to be. They will spend time exploring things about themselves and formulating their own personal mission statements.
Retreat #3
- In another six months leaders will re:Think what it means to be a disciple. They will explore passages of scripture and write their own definition of a disciple. They will gain a clear picture of what this disciple looks like and how they personally will help others grow to be a fully devoted follower of Christ.
Retreat #4
- The final retreat six months later will focus on re:Engaging with God in His Kingdom. How has God created me to be most effective personally on engaging others? What is He nudging me to do? How do I most effectively lead myself and others?
Between these retreat weeks leaders will meet together monthly to encourage and pray for each other.
Interested? If so, contact Becky Biser at becky@tarrantbaptist.org.
Sign up today!
Date: October 23-35, 2016 (Begin Sunday evening at 6:00 and ending at Tuesday at noon)
Cost: $125 each retreat (includes lodging, meals, snacks, books and other materials)
Duration: 4 retreats over 2 years
Register Here!
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21st Century Wilberforce Initiative - Speak Freedom
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Invest in Religious Freedom
Take Action
The 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative advocates for religious freedom as a universal right. Over five billion people, 77% of the world's population, live in a context characterized by religious persecution, discrimination, or restrictions. Twenty Christians are killed because of their faith every day. Genocide is occurring against Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.
The 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative is creating an alliance of churches that will make religious freedom a priority. Wilberforce provides current, reliable information and training for these churches and suggests practical ways they can mobilize as advocates for defenseless people.
I have worked with Dr. Randel Everett on religious freedom issues over the last couple of years. This is a consuming passion for him and his team. I strongly encourage you to lend your voice and church support to this ministry.
With gratitude, David Bowman
For more information about the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative and
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Fort Worth Single Life!
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Being single is more than a relationship status; it's life. We want every single adult to know they are complete in Christ and that He is the foundation for every relationship in our lives. We are passionate about building community for single adults and growing closer to Christ.
Our Goal for Single Life is to provide a meeting place for singles at any church to come hangout and grow spiritually together. We believe every single adult as a Christ follower is Complete in Christ! We are inviting singles of all backgrounds and ages to come join us every 1st and 3rd Thursday as we grow closer to God by learning from His word, worshiping Him and fellowshipping with like-minded single adults!
Host Church: Wedgwood Baptist Church, 5522 Whitman Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas 76133
Meeting Time: Every 1st and 3rd Thursday @ 7:00 PM
For more information, please contact PJ Dunn at pj.dunn@wedgwoodbc.org or 817-807- 7494. We would love to help minister to singles in your church and all of Fort Worth!
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Courses for Bivocational Pastors
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Free Courses Available for Bivocational Pastors!
This is a very unique opportunity for bivocational pastors to take free courses. These courses cover an extensive weekly study on discipleship and run three times per year: January, May and September. The May classes have already started, but there is still time to gear up for the September start date. For more information, visit http://moodle.4disciples.org/. For any questions or trouble enrolling, email Bill Vinson.
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BGCT Upcoming Events
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Registration is now open for Make Your Groups Matter, Texas Baptist Educators Retreat
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SBTC Upcoming Events
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The Gathering
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The Gathering - coming in September!
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AAFC 2016
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Pre-Registration Rate of $125 per person (May 2 - June 13)
Registration Rate of $165 per person (June 14 - June 27)
One Day Registration Rate of $50 per person, per day (Onsite at Conference)
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Tabernacle Tours
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The Tabernacle Tours
Life-Size Replica
Shady Shores Baptist Church
401 W. Shady Shores Road - Shady Shores, Texas 76208
Schedule your tour today!
940-390-7421
Or get your tickets online here:
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News from the Churches
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Job Openings! Ministry Partner - The Fort Worth Pregnancy Center is seeking an Office Manager to facilitate day-to-day operations and bookkeeping duties. Pro-Life Christian men and women may send resume's to Shelley Lee at director@fwpc.org.
Westland Heights Baptist Church has approximately 60-70 Celebration Hymnals they would like to donate to a mission church or new church plant. Please email sands89@sbcglobal.net if you are interested.
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